AuthorTopic: Pensarn Farm Llangystenin Conwy (Read 55690 times)

When I started work (1965) and not old enough to drive I cycled from my home (Conway Cottage, next to the Bodnant Welsh Food Centre entrance) UP Bodnant Hill to Ffrith-y-Foel, where I got a lift to Colwyn Bay with the daughter of the family who lived there ... I cannot remember her name now, but the car was an Austin A35!

Anneelaine, When you see Glan Conwy on Google Street map follow the A470 (Llanrwst Road) south through the village,Go past Nev's Garage, then Talgoed Nurseries then you are looking for a staggered crossroads. As you look at the screen on the right is Ffordd PrenolTurn down there and Ffrith Y Foel is the first house on the left

Anneelaine, here are some photos taken on a wet and windy day today of Ffrith Y Foel. It's in a nice location and the photos don't do it justice.

No you can't walk across the fields to Ffrith Y Foel from Pensarn Farm. You could walk along the lanes to get there but you'd have to be very fit and it would take you some time although it must only be three or four miles away. I drove past Pensarn Farm to get there but didn't check the mileage

According to DVT it is part of the Bodnant Estate and may have been so in 1891 so your ancestor would have been a tenant farmer on the estate

Thanks Hugo.Right so that not the farm Dad and his brother would walk across the fields back to Pensarn farm after work at a farm higher up rethink again I thinkthanks for the photos Hugo will put on my tree.Anneelaine

When I started work (1965) and not old enough to drive I cycled from my home (Conway Cottage, next to the Bodnant Welsh Food Centre entrance) UP Bodnant Hill to Ffrith-y-Foel, where I got a lift to Colwyn Bay with the daughter of the family who lived there ... I cannot remember her name now, but the car was an Austin A35!

A friend asked me to ask you if the lady you had a lift to work with was Eirian Jones , she had an A35 worked in the Bay .

Hugo ... yes, that could be her. I remember it was a Welsh name but I cannot remember the surname. She did work in Colwyn Bay, but I cannot remember where. I think she was one of two daughters, her father worked for Bodnant as the house was part of the estate, and in those days they were rent-free (tied cottages) for Bodnant employees (as was the house I lived in). It was a black A35, but many of them were!

That property, and Croesau Farm at the nearby crossroads, are at the most northerly point of Bodnant Estate. Dyto, at the southern end of the wide part of the A470 towards Llanrwst, is the most southerly point. Croesau was sold to Henry Pochin (see below) by someone with the same surname as me and who I think could link into my family tree, but I've not quite found the connection!

As a complete aside, the Bodnant Estate comprises about 25 farms and cottages as well as Bodnant Hall and what is now Bodnant Garden ... purchased in 1874 by Henry Pochin for the sum of £67,500 ... his daughter Laura became a McLaren and that is the family name still there today, four generations down the line from Pochin.

Going back to the original enquiry and reference to walking to Pensarn, it would be quite a hike but in those days people did walk such distances without the need for wheels.

Thanks Hugo.Right so that not the farm Dad and his brother would walk across the fields back to Pensarn farm after work at a farm higher up rethink again I thinkthanks for the photos Hugo will put on my tree.Anneelaine

Anneelaine, it would be impossible for me to tell you where the other farm was as there were so many in the area at that time.Just recap on the facts of your original posting and that was about Pensarn Farm in Llangystennin. We know that your ancestors lived there and were buried in Llangystennin Churchyard.Across the causeway ( Welsh = Sarn ) a few hundred yards was another farm also called Pensarn ( now Sarn Y Mynach) but that was in Glan Conwy and is by the Black Cat roundabout.However from the Pensarn Farm in Llangystennin is a public footpath that goes across fields all the way up hill to Esgyryn Farm where other members of the Davies family once lived See the old photo of Esgyryn Farm that a forum reader kindly sent me.A number of Davies' had farms nearby but further up the hill is Pydew and you have mentioned a Tan Y Bryn before and there are two farms up there with the same name of Tan Y Bryn,Something to think about but do you know from other Census records where Hugh Davies was born?

Hope I'm not going to confuse things but I use findmypast.com and it comes up with two Hugh Davis (without the e) - one being the Ffrith-y-Foel one and the other at Glanllyn, Pentreflin. Looking at the original manuscript I reckon both Davis families should be Davies with the e (the "normal" Welsh spelling), so whoever transcribed the info has made a mistake.

Now, the info that Rhuddlan has published is correct for the Ffrith-y-Foel Hugh Davi(e)s but I cannot see where the address given (Bontnewydd, Trofarth) reference comes in. As already stated, it would be quite a walk from Ffrith-y-Foel to Pensarn.

The other Hugh Davis I found is at Glanllyn, in 1891 he is 56 years old. His wife Mary is 58, and their three children are William 22 (Carpenter) and daughters Elizabeth 24 and Sarah 19 (both Dressmakers). So, where is Glanllyn?

Looking at the manuscripts Glanllyn the list goes Mariah Chapel, Marian, Glanllyn, Pant, TanyBryniau and a few further on Mynydd Merci, and I know the family that live there. I thought the chapel could be a good clue so looked up the 1891 map (old-maps.co.uk) and I find it is the chapel that is alongside the B5381 road from Glan Conway Corner (Black Cat) to Bryn-y-Maen - it has recently been renovated into a house - map reference SH827750. The old map also shows Marian to the north (SH 825756) and Pant(clyd) to the NW (SH 822756).

Map does not show Glanllyn but it must have been in that area, and within comfortable walking distance (about a mile and half) of Pensarn (the one near Black Cat) and not much further to the one on Llangwstenin road.

Could the Glanllyn family be your answer?

But one thing that does still puzzle me is the translation of Glanllyn - side of the lake - where is the lake?

That's an interesting find DVT and you must have been busy on that research. The more contributors we have on here the better and it may help Anneelaine put the jigsaw together. The surname is Davies, certainly in the case of Ffrith Y Foel and it has just been transcribed incorrectly on Rhuddlan's find.It's intriguing about your find of Glanllyn as I think that I visited the place when I was working and if I'm correct then it is a bungalow nearer the upper Llanrwst Road and there was no sign of a lake there but Llyn can also refer to a small pond.

You also mentioned Mariah Chapel and I have been to see it and taken photos of it. It's a beautiful building with breathtaking views but I was researching for someone else on the forum. He was looking for information about his Grandfather William Davies and he posts on here under the name Down under but his real name is Hugh Davies

As you will know the Davies' are a big farming community in the area and I was trying to establish a possible link between Anneelaine and the forum member Down Under

There are two Llandudno Junction people who read the forum but don't post things on it but have a wealth of knowledge about the Davies family and told me about a number of farms the Davies' had, most where around the Junction area but two were in Denbighshire but I've forgotten the names of them but think that they could have been in the Bryn Y Maen area. Perhaps they will read this and let me know the names of those farms

The only thing with your theory about Glanllyn is that Anneelaine has said that the men walked across the fields to get home but in Glanllyn's case it would have been easier walking along the B5381 and even then it would have been quite a slog.

Interesting discussion. The Glanllyn that DVT refers to is a short distance from Marian (to the north east); there is a well nearby and possibly that gave rise to the name. I agree this would be quite a trek to Pensarn.

There is another Glanllyn in Pydew. It is situated by the Pydew (another word for well) so hence that name as well. This seems to have been a small holding and could have been reached "across the fields" from Pensarn.

Thanks Cambrian for the info on Glanllyn. That's the one DVT was telling us about as those Census records were usually done in some type of order and I think it's the one on the Denbighshire side rather than the one in Pydew

I'm sure that our forum member Tom Jones can tell us some info on the Pydew Glanllyn if we need it